No. 9, 15 January 1993

RUSSIA
RUSSIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS IN SERBIA. Interfax reported on 14 January
that on 15 January a group of Russian opposition parliamentary
deputies from the "Russian Unity" bloc would depart for the Former
Yugoslavia on a private visit. The group included deputy Ilya
Konstantinov, who declined to name other delegation members.
Konstantinov said that the delegation would meet with Serbian
leaders and consider the "threatening tendency towards the situation
in Yugoslavia" posed by NATO's potential military involvement.
Konstantinov said "the situation in Yugoslavia will inevitably
arouse" a discussion of the policies of Russian Foreign Minister
Andrei Kozyrev and his fitness to remain at his post. Tanjug
reported on 13 and 14 January that a group of Russian opposition
parliamentarians was already in Belgrade. According to Tanjug,
the group had expressed confidence that the Russian parliament
would vote on 17-January to lift sanctions against Serbia and
Montenegro. Suzanne Crow
YELTSIN FAVORS INCLUSION OF VOTE ON LAND REFORM IN APRIL REFERENDUM.
President Yeltsin is reported to have expressed his support for
the inclusion of the issue of private land ownership in the April
11 referendum on the draft constitution, according to Reuters
on 14 January. Prior to the Congress of People's Deputies in
December, the "Democratic Russia" movement and other groups had
gathered 1.8 million signatures supporting their demand for a
referendum on the question of land reform. Congress, however,
passed a constitutional amendment on private ownership of land,
and decided that the question of land ownership was thereby resolved.
The issue remains controversial, with those in favor of a referendum
calling the constitutional amendment a half-way measure. Article
12 of the constitution already allowed private ownership of land,
but the amendment removes the previous ruling whereby owners
of plots could not sell until 10 years after acquiring the land.
This applies, however, only to plots used for garden produce
and private house construction. The buying and selling of land
for commercial purposes is still subject to a five or ten year
moratorium. Sheila Marnie
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT STARTS HEARINGS ON NATIONAL SALVATION FRONT.
The Russian Constitutional Court begins on 15 January hearings
on the legality of President Yeltsin's ban of the National Salvation
Front, ITAR-TASS reported. In October, Yeltsin banned this organization
on the grounds that its founding documents-drawn up by hardline
communists and extreme nationalists-called for the overthrow
of the constitutional power in Russia. Leaders of the front appealed
to the Constitutional Court to investigate whether Yeltsin's
ban was legal. Apparently to strengthen his position at the Constitutional
Court, Yeltsin issued a decree on 13 January ordering the Russian
government and procurator general to take measures against all
organizations that violate constitutional order and instigate
ethnic or religious strife. Vera Tolz
RUSSIAN COAL MINERS THREATEN TO FORM ARMED POLICE UNITS. Concerned
by the rise in violent crime in their cities, miners in Russia's
two largest coal mining areas-Western Siberia's Kuzbass and the
Arctic Vorkuta region-are threatening to set up their own armed
police detachments. The Kuzbass miners have already enlisted
the support of local Cossacks. Leaders of Russia's Independent
Miners' Union have met violent deaths in both regions in recent
months, Komsomolskaya pravda reported on 5 January 1993, but
the mayor of Vorkuta has said that he will never allow private
police to operate in his city. Elizabeth Teague
PRICES/PROFITABILITY CONTROLS DECREE PUBLISHED. Two weeks after
it was signed by Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, the 31 December
decree "On the State Regulation of Prices on Individual Products
and Goods" has been published in Rossiiskaya gazeta of 13 January.
The title is unfortunate, since apologists have insisted that
no state regulation of prices is envisaged, rather only of profits.
Meanwhile, after its criticism by Fedorov and Chubais, the decree
has now been blasted by Shumeiko. At a news conference on 14
January, reported by Interfax, Shumeiko said that the document
"in principle should not have been publicized." He blamed staffers,
since it was signed "but not intended for release." Shumeiko
disclosed that only part of the third section of the decree (dealing
with anti-monopoly law) will be kept; all other clauses will
be dropped. Keith Bush
RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN TALKS. The Russian and Ukrainian prime ministers
met in Moscow on 14 January to discuss a variety of economic
issues, CIS and Western agencies reported. They appeared to make
some progress towards settling a dispute over oil and gas supplies
to Ukraine from Russia and prices. They agreed to meet again
next month to discuss establishing what they called a "mini-OPEC,"
which could entail Ukraine's participation in developing deposits
in Russia. Chernomyrdin and Kuchma failed, however, to agree
on how to apportion the foreign debt accumulated by the USSR
and have reportedly asked Western creditors to help them settle
this dispute. That same day, leaders of the Industrialist blocs
in Russia and Ukraine appealed to the presidents of their countries
to settle their economic differences to prevent further economic
deterioration in both countries, Reuters reported. On 15 January
the presidents of Russia and Ukraine are meeting in Moscow and
the issues of economic and military relations are expected to
dominate their talks. Bohdan Nahaylo.
RUSSIAN-CHECHEN TALKS ENVISION FUTURE COOPERATION. ITAR-TASS
reported on 14 January that the president of the Russian state
committee for nationalities policies, Sergei Shakhrai, and the
president of the nationalities council of the Russian parliament,
Ramazan Abdulatipov, had just finished meeting in Groznyi with
high-level Chechen officials to discuss cooperation. Chechen
President Dzhokhar Dudaev did not meet with the Russian delegation.
The two sides agreed to establish working groups to prepare an
agreement that would regulate relations between Russia and Chechnya.
When asked by reporters whether the question of Russian recognition
of the Chechen Republic had been discussed at the meeting, Shakhrai
said that "the Chechen Republic has already been recognized by
the Congress of People's Deputies of Russia through relevant
amendments to the Constitution of the R[ussian] F[ederation]."
Hal Kosiba
SHAFRANIK ADVOCATES FREEING ENERGY PRICES. The newly appointed
Russian Minister of Fuel and Energy, Yurii Shafranik, told a
news conference in Tyumen on 14 January that energy prices should
be freed, Interfax reported. If this had been done at the beginning
of 1992, the minister said, "we would not have as many economic
problems today." He was cautiously optimistic about oil output:
the decline in production was slowing. Future trends depended
on whether Russia's finance system is stabilized. Keith Bush
KHASBULATOV ATTACKS FEDERAL INFORMATION CENTER. Speaking to a
joint session of the two chambers of the Russian parliament on
14 January, parliamentary speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov continued
his attacks on the Yeltsin administration. Among other things,
he alleged that the recently established Federal Information
Center, headed by Mikhail Poltoranin, has put him (Khasbulatov)
under "a spy-glass," Interfax reported. The center was created
by President Yeltsin at the end of December to supervise government-sponsored
media. The move was considered controversial by many conservative
and liberal journalists who feared that it was an attempted to
limit the freedom of the press in Russia. In his speech, Khasbulatov
suggested that the parliament should consider cutting off funding
for the information center if it "continues to subject parliamentary
leaders to such surveillance." It was not clear, however, whether
Khasbulatov really meant that the Information Center was acting
as a front for actual surveillance of parliamentary deputies
or whether he was merely objecting to the manner in which the
Russian government press has been covering stories concerning
the Russian parliament. Vera Tolz
CIVIC UNION PREPARES FOR CONGRESS. The Civic Union plans to hold
a congress at the end of February in order to discuss the bloc's
program for 1993 and its position towards the April referendum.
At a meeting of the Union leaders on 12 January, one of the participants,
Vice President Rutskoi said that President Yeltsin was attentively
watching the Civic Union's activities and did not regard it as
an antireformist force. Yeltsin also reportedly asked Rutskoi
to directly inform him about all the Union's important decision.
Giving other details, Kommersant reported on 14 January that
Yeltsin wanted to assign a fixed day for regular meetings with
the Civic Union representatives on a weekly basis. Vera Tolz
GROUP TO INVESTIGATE CORRUPTION IN SECURITY ORGANS. Interfax
reported on 14 January that the parliamentary group Army Reform
has formed a commission to investigate corruption, embezzlement,
and other economic crimes among high ranking officials in the
Defense, Internal Affairs, and Security Ministries. The commission
will reportedly be headed by deputy Yurii Yudin. Stephen Foye
PUBLIC INVESTIGATION OF RUSSIAN SECURITY SERVICES. A group of
25 prominent Russian public figures have established a public
committee to investigate past activities and to monitor current
operations of the Russian secret services. The committee will
propose legislation that would prohibit the acquisition of high-level
Russian government positions by people who are currently working
or who have worked in the past for the Soviet or Russian secret
services, according to an article by former human right activist,
Sergei Grigoryants, which appeared in Izvestiya on 12 January.
The group includes Aleksandr Yakovlev, Sergei Kovalev, Tatyana
Zaslavskaya, Galina Starovoitova, Lev Ponamorev, Gleb Yakunin,
Sergei Yushenkov, and Grigorii Pomerants. The group is planning
to organize public hearings on connections between the Russian
secret service and the Russian Orthodox church, the secret services
of Eastern Europe, and newly created businesses and banks. An
additional hearing will be devoted to the issue of public and
parliamentary control over Russian security and intelligence
organizations. Victor Yasmann
TRANSCAUCASIA & CENTRAL ASIA
TAJIK GOVERNMENT FORCES IN GARM. On 14 January ITAR-TASS quoted
a statement by First Deputy Chairman of Tajikistan's Supreme
Soviet Abdumadzhid Dostiev that government forces seeking to
bring the Garm region east of Dushanbe under their control were
there at the request of local inhabitants who had complained
of terrorist actions and banditry by anti-government forces.
Garm has been one of the main strongholds of the Islamic opposition
during the Tajik civil war; a blockade by government forces is
reported to have led to an extreme shortage of food in the region.
The same day Russian border troops told ITAR-TASS that few Tajik
refugees have returned from Afghanistan, though thousands more
are expected to return soon. Bess Brown
NO SOLUTION TO TAJIK-KYRGYZ BORDER DISPUTE. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan
agreed on 14-January to establish diplomatic relations but delegations
of the countries' legislators were unable to devise a solution
to the border dispute that has affected relations between the
two states since at least 1988, Interfax reported. The dispute,
which began between two border villages over water use, led to
fighting and several deaths in 1989. Governmental commissions
have tried to resolve the quarrel without success. Kyrgyzstan's
Supreme Soviet chairman Medetkan Sherimkulov wanted a treaty
confirming the inviolability of existing borders but the Tajik
delegation was unwilling to agree. Bess Brown
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
WILL BOSNIAN SERBS APPROVE PEACE PLAN? THERE ARE MIXED SIGNALS
FROM BOSNIAN SERBS OVER THE LIKELIHOOD THAT THE ASSEMBLY OF THE
SELF-PROCLAIMED SERB REPUBLIC OF BOSNIA WILL ENDORSE AN INTERNATIONAL
PEACE PLAN ALREADY APPROVED BY BOSNIAN SERB LEADER RADOVAN KARADZIC.
Karadzic, however, has vowed to hold on "at all costs" to a corridor
across northern Bosnia linking the western part of that republic
to Serbia. This Serbian-held corridor is planned include part
of a Bosnian Croat province. The prime minister of the "Serb
Republic of Bosnia," Vladimir Lukic, says the assembly will never
accept the Geneva plan because Serbs will never give up the idea
of creating their own state. The EC has given the Bosnian Serbs
six days to accept the plan or face punitive measures. Momcilo
Krajisnik, president of the assembly, rejected the ultimatum
saying blackmail will not effect the assembly's decision, but
he did say the plan is "good, wise, and realistic" and hopes
it will be accepted. Several influential representatives are
also backing the plan, but many from areas won by the Serbs in
fighting are sharply critical of it. The 80-member assembly will
meet at an undisclosed site early next week. Radios Serbia and
Croatia carried the reports. -Milan Andrejevich
ZHELEV SUPPORTS MILITARY ACTION IN EX-YUGOSLAVIA. Bulgarian President
Zhelyu Zhelev has again expressed support for Western military
involvement in former Yugoslavia in order to ensure Serbian compliance
with UN resolutions. Speaking in an interview with Reporter 7
on 14 January, Zhelev criticized Western states for having been
too passive and said the European Community should have kept
a higher profile in the Balkan conflict. Referring to the danger
of widening the war, however, he ruled out Bulgarian participation
in any future military actions. Zhelev also said he would oppose
any proposal to let Turkish troops use Bulgarian territory for
an attack against Serbia. -Kjell Engelbrekt
IRAQ ACTION WINS GENERAL SUPPORT IN THE REGION. Local and international
media are reporting reactions to the UN-backed actions in Iraq.
In a statement released on 14 January, Estonia supports the "peace-enforcing
action" taken under the UN aegis "to secure peace and stability
in the Middle East and to protect the sovereignty and freedom
of the Kuwaiti peoples." The statement, released to RFE/RL, says
"it is the responsibility of all UN signatories to honor interstate
and international treaties and, by virtue of collective action,
to enforce those treaties." The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs
also issued a statement on the 14th supporting the air strike
as did Romania's Foreign Ministry. The latter statement described
the bombing of Iraqi positions as a warning and "an unequivocal
signal" that the international community is determined not to
tolerate violations of UN Security Council resolutions on the
Gulf conflict. Hungarian Foreign Ministry spokesman Janos Herman
told MTI on the 14th that Hungary agrees with the goals of the
limited raids and reiterated Hungary's interest in lasting peace
and security in the Gulf region. Reuters reports that senior
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry official Viktor Nahaichuk said on
14-January that Ukraine supports all Security Council decisions
on Iraq, but added "we believe that the use of military force
is an extreme measure to be used only when all chances for a
peaceful settlement are exhausted." -RFE/RL RI staff.
CONVENTION ON CHEMICAL WEAPONS SIGNED. On 14 January in Paris
Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu signed the convention
banning chemical weapons and later, in a speech at UNESCO headquarters,
stressed that Romania has no chemical weapons and will neither
produce nor acquire such weapons in the future. New Bulgarian
Prime Minister Lyuben Berov took the occasion of being in Paris
for the signing to get acquainted with some of his colleagues.
Berov told Bulgarian Radio on 14 January that he regards the
convention as an important instrument in the process toward stable
peace and security in the post-cold war period. Russian Foreign
Minister Andrei Kozyrev signed the convention on the 13th. Poland's
Krzysztof Skubiszewski, the Czech Republic's Josef Zieleniec,
Estonia's Trivimi Velliste, and Lithuania's Povilas Gylys were
also among the foreign ministers who were charter signers of
the convention. -RFE/RL RI staff.
LITHUANIA TO JOIN COUNCIL OF EUROPE. On 14-January Vygaudas Usackas,
counselor in the Lithuanian Embassy in Brussels, told the RFE/RL
Lithuanian Service that CE Secretary General Catherine Lalumire
had shown Ambassador Adolfas Venckus the report of the CE political
committee recommending that Lithuania be admitted as a member.
It is planned that the formal accession will be on 14 May. -Saulius
Girnius
UKRAINIAN DEPUTIES CONTINUE WORKING ON START-1 TREATY. Ukrainian
TV reported on 14 January that the parliamentary working group
dealing with ratification of the START-1 treaty and signing of
the Nonproliferation Treaty has held another meeting. The Ukrainian
Supreme Council is due to debate the ratification of START-1
when it reconvenes later this month and after it has dealt with
pressing economic issues. That same day, according to ITAR-TASS,
Prime Minister Leonid Kuchma told a press conference in Moscow
that he is confident that Parliament will eventually ratify the
treaty. The Ukrainian leadership, he continued, remains committed
to the idea of their country becoming a nonnuclear state. -Bohdan
Nahaylo
DONETSK COMMUNISTS WORKING TO REVIVE PARTY. A meeting of Communist
leaders in Ukraine's Donetsk region has issued a protest against
the recent sharp price increases and general approach to economic
reform by the central government, Ukrinform-TASS reported on
13 January. One participant, Pyotr Simonenko, Party second secretary
in the Donetsk region before the Ukrainian parliament banned
the CP in August 1991, told Interfax that he and his colleagues
are organizing a conference in Donetsk in the second half of
February as part of their efforts to restore the Communist Party
of Ukraine. -Bohdan Nahaylo
DONBAS LEADERS SPLIT OVER UKRAINE AND CIS. Meanwhile, also in
Donetsk, a consultative meeting of the leaders and deputies of
the Donetsk region's local councils, and local political and
trade union leaders, has revealed a split between those who want
Ukraine to integrate more fully into the CIS, and defenders of
Ukraine's independence, Ukrainian TV reported on 13 January.
-Bohdan Nahaylo
BELARUS LEADER AGAINST STRONGER CIS INTEGRATION. Zyanon Pazniak,
leader of the Belarusian Popular Front, has come out against
Belarus's signing of the proposed CIS charter at the 22 January
CIS summit in Minsk. According to Belinform-TASS of 14 January,
Pazniak is urging the Belarusian government to concentrate on
strengthening Belarus statehood and on cultivating bilateral
ties with other CIS members. -Bohdan Nahaylo
ANOTHER FIRE AT CHERNOBYL. A second fire within two days has
broken out at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant near Kiev, Western
and CIS agencies reported on 14 January. Ukrainian officials
say that neither fire was serious: they did not affect the reactors
and there were no injuries. -Bohdan Nahaylo
POLISH PROSECUTOR TO PROBE ACCUSATIONS. Justice Minister Zbigniew
Dyka announced on 14-January that the Warsaw prosecutor's office
will begin criminal proceedings in connection with allegations
that President Lech Walesa's closest aide, Mieczyslaw Wachowski,
was and remains a secret police agent. Dyka did not specify what
charge would be lodged, or against whom. Jaroslaw Kaczynski,
the former presidential chief of staff who is orchestrating a
shrill campaign against Walesa, restated his charge that Wachowski
completed an internal affairs ministry course in the summer of
1975-despite the fact that several course participants have come
forward to dispute his claim. These include Lublin police commissioner
Arnold Superczynski, who on 13 January identified himself as
the man in the photo (showing four men in soccer outfits) whom
Kaczynski asserts is Wachowski. Kaczynski claimed to have other
evidence to support his charges, but refused to disclose it until
the case goes to court. -Louisa Vinton
THIRD DRAFT EVADER SENTENCED IN POLAND. In what appears to be
a concerted campaign to reduce draft evasion, a military court
in Wroclaw sentenced Radoslaw Jamrozik to a year's imprisonment
on 14-January. Jamrozik is the third young Pole to be given a
prison sentence for draft evasion in the past three weeks, PAP
reports. Jamrozik's request for alternative service on moral
and ethical grounds was earlier rejected. The court referred
explicitly to the "social impact" of Jamrozik's act in explaining
the severity of the sentence. In the two other cases the highest
military court revised earlier suspended sentences and ordered
convicted draft evaders to serve prison terms. -Louisa Vinton
POLISH FERRY CAPSIZES IN BALTIC. A Polish ferry loaded with trucks
and rail cars capsized in high winds and heavy seas on 14 January
while en route from Swinoujscie to Ystad. Nine survivors were
rescued; the remaining 54 people on board are presumed dead.
The Polish government set up a special commission to investigate.
The high winds were also reported to have caused extensive damage
in northern Germany, Lithuania, and Latvia. -Louisa Vinton
HARSH WINTER IN MACEDONIA. With a heavy snowfall on the ground
and temperatures hovering around -15Ё C, some Macedonians have
begun to experience energy rationing. An RFE/RL correspondent
reported that on 11 January, Skopje began a regime in which electricity
is blacked out every third day for 10 hours in one of three districts
set up for energy regulation. The energy crisis results from
a combination of factors including a fuel shortage and lack of
financial resources, problems rooted in Greece's objection to
the Republic of Macedonia's name and the associated successful
lobbying efforts by Athens to block diplomatic recognition by
the US and the EC, unseasonably low temperatures, and the need
to maintain industrial production to shore up the sagging economy.
-Duncan Perry
NO COMPROMISE ON GABCIKOVO. Dominik Kocinger, a Slovak government
commissioner for the Gabcikovo Hydroelectric Plant project, told
journalists after a meeting of Slovak, Hungarian, and European
Community experts in Bratislava on 14 January that the views
of the Slovakia and Hungary are still at variance. CTK reports
Kocinger as saying that Hungarian and Slovak sides have raised
different demands with regard to the future of the project. Kocinger
also said that "if it does not make sense," the Slovak delegation
will not attend the next round of talks, scheduled to take place
in Brussels next week. -Jiri Pehe
DISMISSED SLOVAK EDITORS LAUNCH NEW PAPER. Former editors of
the Slovak state-owned weekly Smena launched a new paper on 14
January. Smena Director Jozef Weiss and Chief Editor Karol Jezik
were fired on 4 January in a move that sparked fears that the
government wants to curb independent expression, and which prompted
protests from the Slovak Journalists Union and a walkout of some
50 editors who joined Jezik in setting up the new newspaper called
Sme ("We Are"). The first (weekly) issue appeared on 14 January
with a circulation of 115,000. A daily edition is planned to
begin 15 January. -Barbara Kroulik.
ASEA BROWN BOVERY SETS UP JOINT VENTURE IN CZECH REPUBLIC. The
Swiss power engineering giant Asea Brown Bovery has formed a
joint venture with the Czech power equipment maker First Brno
Engineering (PBS), beating out competing offers from General
Electric and Siemens. Under the deal ABB will hold a 67% stake
in the venture to be called ABB-PBS. About 4,000 people will
be employed. According to agency reports from 7 January, the
deal is the second largest privatization project so far, after
the acquisition by Volkswagen of the Skoda works. ABB spokesmen
said that their company will benefit from PBS's technology in
the field of small industrial power plants, a sector in which
ABB holds about a 25% world market share. With more that $30
billion in annual revenues, ABB has recently bought several companies
in Poland, Hungary, and Romania. -Jan Obrman
ROMANIA'S ETHNIC HUNGARIANS HOLD CONGRESS. A three-day congress
of the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (HDFR) opens
on 15-January in Brasov amidst growing concern among Romanian
politicians over possible demands for territorial autonomy from
the country's large Hungarian minority. Local media report that
a radical HDFR wing, which is pressing for autonomy, is likely
to take over the party's leadership at the congress. In an interview
with Radio Bucharest on 14 January, Geza Domokos, the moderate
HDFR chairman, announced his intention to step down. Romanian
political leaders are urging the HDFR to show restraint and avoid
raising thorny issues like autonomy claims. -Dan Ionescu
WITHDRAWAL OF RUSSIAN TROOPS FROM LITHUANIA BEHIND SCHEDULE.
On 14 January the National Defense Ministry circulated a report
on the withdrawal of Russian troops from Lithuania, BNS reports.
Of the 288 units in the republic 61 units (23 land forces, 1
paratroops, 4 air defense, 30 air force, and 3 navy) that were
to have been removed in the first stage in accordance with the
agreement of 8 September 1992, by 31 December 1992, only 47 were
withdrawn. Lithuania has taken over 52 military installations
of which the largest were in Vilnius, Ukmerge, Pabrade, and Marijampole.
They slowed in October and especially in November while Russia
was pressing claims that no separate agreement on handing over
military installations had been signed. The process was better
coordinated in December. -Saulius Girnius
LATVIA COMPLAINS OF ARRIVAL OF ADDITIONAL RUSSIAN TROOPS. The
Foreign Ministry sent a note of protest to the Russian Embassy
concerning the arrival of Russian troops in Latvia. The Russian
army is permitted to bring only personnel necessary for the withdrawal
of its troops, BNS and Baltfax reported on 14 January. The same
agencies are also reporting a statement by Russian President
Boris Yeltsin, as made public by his press secretary, expressing
concern about human and property rights of Russians. Latvian
deputy Indulis Berzins suggested that the timing of the accusations
is related to the upcoming talks on the withdrawal of Russian
troops from Latvia, Diena reports on 15-January. -Dzintra Bungs
INFLATION UP, PRODUCTION DOWN IN LATVIA. Compared with 1991,
industrial production in Latvia dropped in 1992 by 31.5% while
consumer prices rose 1051%. Crime rose by 48%. Of the 61,900
law violations registered in 1992, 293 were murders or attempted
murders, but most of the crimes were thefts and robberies. In
1992 33,200 persons or about 2.3% of the able work force were
registered as unemployed, but 44,300 persons were affected by
temporary layoffs and shortened working hours-an indication that
the employment problem is more serious than suggested by just
the bare unemployment figures. BNS reported the statistics on
13 and 14 January. -Dzintra Bungs
VIOLENT CRIME UP IN ESTONIA. During 1992 217 persons were killed
and 57 rapes were reported, up from the previous year's figures
of 119 and 50, respectively. According to BNS on 6 January, some
41,000 crimes were reported for 1992, up from nearly 32,000 in
1991. The only category of "crime" to decrease was traffic fatalities-only
58 in 1992 as opposed to 153 in 1991. This drop is most likely
due to the high price of gasoline in Estonia. -Riina Kionka
ESTONIA REPORTS TRADE SURPLUS. The Estonian customs authority
on 9 January told BNS that the country had a trade surplus in
November of 18.3 million kroons. According to the report, imports
reached 541.3 million that month, whereas exports stood at 559.6
million kroons. Estonia's main trading partners in November were
Russia, Finland, Sweden, Germany, and Denmark. There are about
12 kroons to a dollar. -Riina Kionka
[As of 1200 CET] Compiled by Hal Kosiba & Charles Trumbull